Solar thermal energy for large buildings

Spain

Spanish title: Energía solar térmica en edificios

Summary

The SOLARGE campaign in Spain has been prepared in December 2007. The campaign consisted of a mailing package which contained documentation elaborated within the SOLARGE project framework as well as the promotion of the SOLARGE tools available on the SOLARGE web site. The campaign has been addressed to project developers, architects, technicians, stakeholders, etc. The campaign has just been launched, thus few but interesting results have been got. However, the solar thermal energy is currently a main concern in Spain due to the building code's obligations. Therefore, great feedback is expected from the SOLARGE campaign.

Context

Solar thermal energy has become a main concern in Spain after the new building code entered into force in 2006 since it enforces, on a national level, the application of solar thermal systems to partially cover the hot tap water demand for domestic purposes and water heating for indoor swimming pools.Besides the building code (CTE), there are other regional/local legislations that enforce the application of solar thermal technologies but differ from the building code on solar fractions and key numbers for hot water demand. However, when there is no other regional/local legislation the binding one is the building code. This is the case in about 8,000 municipalities (where 75 % of the population is).

To simplify the process to comply with the CTE and orientate project developers, architects and technicians about the building technical considerations to be taken into account at the solar thermal system's design stage

"Energía solar térmica en edificios" campaigning is part of the European co-operation Project SOLARGE supported by the "Intelligent Energy - Europe" programme of the European Union. The campaign has been designed based on the findings of SOLARGE and it benefits from the SOLARGE materials.

Objectives

Aim of the campaign is to inform several target groups about large solar thermal systems, simplify the system's size calculation and help considering building technical parameters for the installation of solar thermal systems.

Process

1. Mailing selection criteria

350 mailing addressees have been carefully selected among all Ecofys' contacts all over Spain. The following target groups have been chosen:

Letter to explain the goal of the campaign and its documentation content and to promote the use of SOLARGE tools available on the Web site

SOLARGE leaflet

SOLARGE FAQ

SOLARGE Image Brochure

SOLARGE Best Practice Catalogue

3. Follow-up

The campaign has been prepared in December 2007 and will go on in 2008. Therefore, there are not many results or problems encountered yet.

Response on the mailing will be proactively handled by experts, by:

Answering questions

Sending (detailed) information

Assistance in using the SOLARGE tools

Offering additional services on request

Etc.

Financial resources and partners

SOLARGE activities in Spain have been supported by Ecostream International.

Results

It is expected to have great results from this campaign since the use of solar thermal energy is now mandatory in Spain for residential and public buildings. Moreover, after the investigation made in order to prepare the National Position Paper for Spain, Ecofys came to the conclusion that no such an information campaign has been launched in Spain before. Recently, the Chamber of Architects in Catalonia, which has received the campaign, has contacted Ecofys in order to set up a local campaign addressed to their members (8,200) regarding SOLARGE tools, especially building assessment tools.

Lessons learnt and repeatability

The possibility of setting local campaigns such as the one proposed by the Chamber of Architects in Catalonia shows the impact of the current one. It shows that large scale dissemination actions can be implemented in Spain due to the existing legislative framework and the current need of tools to comply with the solar obligations. Moreover, the experiences showed all over Europe will give potential users confidence in the technology and a good understanding of its advantages.